The Third Day
by stanzaic
Summary: Due to matter of circumstance, Red is trapped at Pine Hollow for three days during severe thunderstorms with a pregnant mare.
1. Day Before

It was a dreadfully windy day in Virginia, and the sky looked positively grim. Others worried about the thunderstorms that were surely on their way; Red O'Malley ignored the weather and went along in his work, thinking that they were all safe inside even if there were thunderstorms.

His work involved feeding the horses, exercising the ones that needed exercise, cleaning their stalls, and cleaning the horses themselves. Today, and for the past several months, it had been another part of his job to check up on Angelfire, the mare. According to Dr. Judy Barker, the mare was going to give birth any day now. Red had witnessed a birthing maybe once before, but he could barely remember anything about it. All he could recall was Max Regnery pacing worriedly as the mare had gone into labor.

Red turned down the offer of help from Kristi Cavanaugh and told her to go home before the thunderstorms hit. This seemed to be the only thing that could turn her away from Red, because she quickly told him goodbye and ran off. Red wished for a second that thunderstorms would come along more often – that way he would have a shadow only for maybe one or two days of the week instead of practically all of them.

He kept working, pausing to check in on Angelfire once every hour. Soon enough, when Red checked his cell phone, it was nine-thirty at night, the time Max usually left. Red had already given the horses their dinner and had decided that he was going to keep them inside tonight instead of turning them back out. There were horses on pasture board, of course, but he figured they would know how to deal with some rain.

Max exited his office and glanced around. Red waved when Max caught sight of him; Max looked particularly grave today. "What's up?" Red asked, as Max approached him. "There isn't anything wrong, is there?"

"No, everything's fine," said Max shortly. "I was just wondering whether you wanted me to hang around for a while, with the thunderstorm and everything."

Red took a second to decipher Max's meaning. When he realized that Max thought he'd be worried about a little rain, he laughed. "Look, Max, I'll be fine here. It's just a little rain – what harm can come from that? Anyway, if Angelfire goes into labor, I'll give Dr. Barker a call and see what I can do."

Max nodded, but he still looked hesitant. "Red, these storms aren't supposed to pass over for another few days. It'll be more than a little rain. They're likely to be severe thunderstorms."

That changed things a bit; however, Red didn't want Max to worry. "Awwh, relax, Max! I'll be great here on my own. I've been working with horses since I was twelve. I've seen a foaling before, I know what to do if a horse gets injured, and I have my cell phone if the electricity goes out. I have your number, and Dr. Barker's, and if you have all the numbers written down in your office, I've got all those, too. It'll be fine."

This discourse on Red's abilities seemed to reassure Max a great deal. "Okay, good," he said, clapping Red's shoulder. "Well, good luck, and I'll be out first thing tomorrow morning." He bid Red farewell and walked off, only after turning off the lights in his office and closing the door.

Red trailed Max outside – not in order to stalk his boss, but to see what the sky looked like now. It was already beginning to rain, and it was thundering monstrously. White-violet lightning lit up the sky every few seconds. _It's really close,_ thought Red. He considered bringing in the pasture board horses but decided he wouldn't until things got worse – or if the wind started ripping branches off trees and knocking trees over. Red nodded decisively at this thought and turned back inside.

_Don't worry. It's just a little rain._

Yes, Red thought, everything was going to be perfectly fine.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I think I broke Red in this one. (Yes, I saw this sentence with a different character in a _Chuck_ A/N. It fits this story perfectly.) Don't hate me. FCMD, I cry, FCMD! Also, there is only one chapter left on my other _Saddle Club_ story, so don't worry about me abandoning, 'cuz I ain't gonna! :D I'm just really excited about this little guy. :)

**WARNING:** I have FCMD (Favorite Character Mutilation Disorder) and forgot to take my meds when I wrote this. This is the only time I'm warnin' you.

**DISCLAIMER:** This is the only time I'm saying this. This is a site called fanfiction, which includes the two words 'fan' and 'fiction'. What does this say to you? Also, if I owned _Saddle Club_, Red would be the main character instead of Stevie, Carole, and Lisa.


	2. First Morning

When Max Regnery woke the following morning, the first thing he thought was _Pine Hollow_. He quickly dressed himself and hurried downstairs to the living room, where he switched on the television and went to the Weather Channel, wondering how everything was going in the rest of Virginia.

What he saw was quite alarming. There were trees out on roads everywhere, wind was gaining speed every moment, and there was even some minor flooding – and it was still going strong. Max took a deep breath to steady himself and rushed into the kitchen to grab the landline, leaving the TV blasting in the other room. He dialed the landline for Pine Hollow and prayed to God that Red would pick up the phone.

God was listening. "Yeah?"

"Red! Are you all right? How about the horses?" Max started to run one of his hands through his blonde curls, stopping in the middle and tugging on his hair instead. "Did you bring in the pasture board horses?"

"Yeah, yeah, I brought them all in." There was a long pause, in which Max distinctly thought he heard Red yawning. "I'm fine. The horses are a little spooky, but other than that, they're all great."

"Where are you keeping the pasture boards?" asked Max, picturing them running amuck in the barn aisle. He hoped Red had thought of someplace good to keep them. There weren't a lot of them – four, actually – but it could be disastrous if Red let them all hang around together.

"The second barn."

Max didn't hesitate. "You need to bring them into the main barn, okay? You can maybe put them in the wash stall area or the indoor ring – I don't like having them alone in the second barn. And if you're out there while I'm calling, I won't know why you're not picking up the phone."

"I was about to go out there to get them, Max. Look, you really don't have to worry. Everything is great."

"Okay, good," said Max with a great deal of relief. "How's Angelfire?"

"She's okay. Pacing and whinnying a lot, but other than that, she's fine."

"All right. I'll be out there in twenty minutes or so."

Red sighed audibly. When he spoke next, he sounded extremely tentative. "Max, you're not going to be able to get out here."

"What are you talking about?"

"I went out and checked the road this morning. There are trees down all over it. Nobody could get through there unless they've got a tank and an entire tactical force. It's okay though, I've got everything covered."

Max barely heard Red's reassurance. "Are you serious?" he barked into the phone. "Oh my God…"

"Don't say that," Red murmured.

"Excuse me?"

"Don't say 'oh my God'. God's all we got right now. I wouldn't insult him."

Max opened and closed his mouth a couple of times. Since when had Red been a religious guy? In fact, he hadn't known that Red even believed in God – but he was probably right. "Yeah," said Max vaguely. "Okay…but Red…do you realize that since it's still storming, there's no way anybody can get in there to pick up the trees?"

"Yeah, Max, I know."

There was something in Red's voice now, something that unsettled Max. Red was tense and tired and worried - and he usually never allowed any emotions to really show through. Max decided to let Red go. "Red, if you need anything at all, give me a call, okay? And I'll call once an hour to check in."

"Sure, Max," said Red. He yawned again. "Don't start calling me in the middle of the night though."

"I'll try not to," Max muttered. "Good luck."

"Thanks."

Red hung up before Max did. Max listened to the irritatingly shrill beep for a second before hitting 'end' and putting the phone back into its cradle. He flung himself onto a kitchen stool and buried his face in his hands, wondering what the heck he was supposed to do. He hated being helpless. He hated being away from Pine Hollow for a long time, especially when there were important things happening there – he hated this entire situation. Most of all, he hated not knowing what to do.

Max sat there for a few seconds before finally removing his face from his hands. He straightened up right as Deborah Regnery entered the living room, yawning. "Why is this turned up so loud?" she asked through her yawn, reaching for the television remote. She turned down the volume and looked around. When she caught sight of her husband, she started. "Oh – Max! What are you still doing here?"

"I can't get to Pine Hollow," he explained dully. "There are trees covering the roads everywhere. The river is probably flooding, too." There was a river that cut right across the only road into Pine Hollow. It was usually quite flat and no trouble to drive over, as there was a small bridge; but as Max thought about it, he figured that the bridge would be useless if it was flooding, and it most likely was.

"Oh," said Deborah. "Doesn't Red – Max, doesn't Red _live_ there?"

Max nodded.

"I'm sure he'll be able to handle everything," said Deborah, as if by saying this maybe she could believe it. "It's only rain, right? And if the trees are already down, I'm sure most of the damage is already done."

Max started to say something along the lines of _God, I hope you're right,_ but at the last second he changed his mind. Instead, he said, "I really hope you're right."

"Me too," said Deborah.

* * *

><p>At Pine Hollow, Red was in the middle of leading the last two pasture board horses back to the main stable. The first two were cross-tied in the wash stall, and as Red passed them on his way back in, one of them snapped at him.<p>

"No wonder you're on pasture board," Red told the gelding. "Can't get along with anyone, can you?" He shook his head and continued onward, in the direction of the little hallway that was attached to the indoor ring. The hallway itself seemed smaller than ever today, and there were tinny sounds of rain pounding on the roof overhead that echoed. Red took a deep breath – and it turned into a yawn.

He'd barely gotten any sleep last night. In fact, he'd gotten maybe half an hour before he jumped out of bed and hurried back to check on the horses – and he hadn't gone back to sleep after that. He'd just been too busy taking care of the horses. At the moment, they mattered far more than his eight hours of sleep did.

Red released the last two pasture boards into the ring and closed the gate. He hurried over to close the big garage-sized door that led outside; but before he did, he took another look out there to see if the storm was slowing down at all. To his horror, it seemed to be growing worse instead. Branches were whipping everywhere, and the rain was positively torrential. Lightning and thunder hit within seconds of each other.

_Dear God, save me,_ Red thought, just before he pulled the garage door shut.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Enjoy it? I hope so. Tell me all about your experience with this story in a review. ;) Thanks a ton for the reviews, btw! They make me happy! :D

**DISCLAIMER:** Still in the prologue, as is the warning.


	3. First Afternoon

Red had to focus on something other than the storm. He fed the horses and checked on Angelfire again, who seemed to be pacing and whinnying more than ever. The other horses joined in on her frantic neighs sometimes, too – thusly on occasion there would be a long echo of whinnies all the way down the barn. It was something that was entirely unsettling, as if Red wasn't already unsettled enough.

He'd tried to put on a brave face for Max, who he was sure was still worrying, but he didn't feel brave in the least. In fact, if he felt anything, it was worry. It was the type of worry that was so stressful and exhausting it was starting to make him nauseous. Fortunately, Red was able to focus on the horses to keep his mind off everything else.

The most worrying thing at the moment was the large tree directly beside the stable. Red couldn't stop thinking about it. He knew there were other bigger trees that had already been pulled down – and he knew that tree had to go out soon. If it did, it would take out an entire section of stalls. Red hurried over to check on the tree from time to time. Each time he looked out the window up at it, it seemed to be weaker and weaker.

Finally Red started to move the horses that would be in the tree's path. He brought the mares to the indoor ring, as the other two pasture boards in there were mares, and he tied the gelding to one of the cross-ties at the other end of the hall near the wash stall. The two horses in the wash stall were positively frantic. Red had no idea what to do to calm them down, so he simply hoped they could calm themselves down and ignored them for the time being.

Red tried to measure how much more of the stable would be taken out if the tree fell. He groaned as he realized Max's office would be crushed. _What am I supposed to do about that?_ Red wondered, as he rushed over and tried the door. Naturally, it was locked. He jiggled the knob a couple more times before giving up and kicking the door. It sent a throttle of pain up through his right leg.

"Awwh, dammit!" Red exclaimed, hopping away from the door. He looked back toward the window through which he could see the tree; he really needed to get everything of vital importance out of Max's office, right now. Red kicked the door again. He didn't think beforehand, which was why he kicked it with his already-hurting foot. Red cursed under his breath and stumbled away from the obstinate door, trying to keep from putting weight on his apparently injured foot.

Red was about to pick the lock when the landline rang. The phone itself was sitting on a bench outside Max's office, but its charger was inside. Red thought _that stupid phone had better not die on me_ before he limped over and picked it up. He fully expected it to be Max, checking in for the sixth time. "'Lo?"

"Red! Everything still good?"

It was Max. He sounded worried out of his mind. Red sighed and threw himself onto the bench, afterwards propping his stinging leg up beside him. "Yeah, Max," said Red tiredly, running a hand through his hair. "Everything's still absolutely great."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," said Red automatically. He didn't need Max to worry about him, too. "But I really need to know how to get into your office. Apparently you locked it last night. Is there an extra key somewhere that I can use?"

Max hesitated before replying. "I have the only key, I think," he said, sounding angry with himself. "But I'm sure you can pick the lock on the door. D'you know how or should I Google it for you and give you instructions or something?"

"I know how," said Red darkly. "I've had practice."

"Well...all right then," Max replied slowly. "Remember, if you need anything at all, you just call me."

"I will, Max."

"I'm checking in again in an hour."

"I got it."

"Okay, good."

"Yep."

Red hung up before Max could start in on anything else. The second he pressed 'end' he dropped the phone onto the bench beside him and reached over to gingerly touch his leg. The pain was receding somewhat.

He thrust himself back to his feet and let out a yelp. _What the hell did I do?_ Red wondered, as he hop-skipped back to the office door. He realized that he must have twisted his ankle a strange way while he'd been so busy trying to bust down the door. "You _stupid_ idiot," Red muttered under his breath to himself; but he had a doorknob to focus on now, and he went about trying to locate a paperclip or a bobby pin in order to pick the lock.

Red was searching for something of use in the tack room when the mares in the indoor ring started to neigh. Soon the other horses were responding. Red looked around, wondering what on Earth the mares could be whinnying about. He abandoned his paperclip search, grabbed a broom, turned it upside-down, and propped it under his arm; he used the broom as a sort of cane as he hurried into the indoor ring.

"What is it?" Red asked the mares. One of them was cantering around the ring tossing her head, the white of her eyes showing. Red recognized her as the rabble-rouser and headed in her direction. "Hey," said Red, carefully approaching the frantic horse, "you're fine. We're all fine. It's just a little rain." He reached over the fence for her halter. The mare reared up, and Red took an unthinking step back, pain ricocheting up his leg again. "Listen, Bella," said Red, trying to force a calm tone of voice, "you're fine. You're okay. You're safe here with me."

Bella began to breathe easier. Red said softly, reaching for her halter again, "Nothing is going to happen to you. In fact, you guys out here in the ring are the safest of us all. No falling trees can hit you while you're out here." Bella allowed Red to take hold of her halter, and Red stroked her head, telling her that they were going to live through this all the while.

If only he could be so sure.

Once Red was sure Bella was completely calmed again, he checked on the other mares. He ascertained their safety and headed back into the main barn. The thought of the massive tree had escaped his mind, and when he caught sight of the inside of the main barn, he remembered and dropped the broom. Red half-ran and half-limped back to the tack room, where he rustled around in everything until he located a bobby pin.

_Thank you, God,_ Red thought in all sincerity before hurrying back to the office door. He snapped the bobby pin in half and went about picking the lock, trying to remember how it worked. For a miserable minute, he thought he'd forgotten and he was going to have to call Max back – and then there was a slight click and the door swung open.

"You rock, God," Red said aloud before heading into the office, his right ankle trembling the whole way. He quickly went about searching Max's desk for everything that looked to be of importance, and whenever he found something, he quickly brought it back out and placed it on a tack box near the wash stall. By the end of his trips between the wash stall and Max's office, Red was sure that his ankle was the source of his walking problems.

Red unplugged the phone charger and brought it out into the aisle. Unfortunately, he was unable to locate another outlet, and he was forced to give up. He brought the charger back into Max's office and plugged it back in, placing the phone into the cradle. He left the phone there and went back out to make sure he had everything that could possibly matter.

He'd found a phone book, Max's book of contacts, a locked box, Max's calendar book, and a variety of other objects. Red allowed himself a few minutes to calm down. He seated himself on the floor beside the tack box and closed his eyes briefly, sweat dripping down his forehead from all that effort he'd put into walking.

Red sat there for longer than he'd intended. He realized he'd dozed off when the sound of the landline ringing woke him. "Oh, _no_!" Red cried, jumping to his aching feet. The first thing he did was run over and check on Angelfire. The mare was still pacing, but she obviously had yet to go into labor. That matter taken care of, Red turned, ready to sprint over and answer the phone.

Before he could, an ear-splitting creak rent the air. Red covered his ears as the horses began to neigh. _Oh please God no,_ Red thought desperately right before the tree came crashing down.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I'm mean, aren't I? ;) Tell me all about it in a review. Speaking of reviews, thanks for them! :D


	4. First Evening

The phone was ringing. All it would do was ring. Max fully expected Red to pick it up at any moment, pick it up and reassure him that everything was still going swimmingly, that none of the horses were injured and Angelfire had yet to go into labor. Instead, all Max received was a long shrill ringing.

Max was pacing around his kitchen, one of his shoes on and the other off. He had been debating whether or not to try to head over to Pine Hollow, regardless of fallen trees; Deborah had told him she was sure that city officials would be out there the second they were able to move the trees. Max knew this was most likely and had decided that he would stay home and settle for still calling Red. That had been a fine plan – back when Red still picked up the phone.

"Pick up the damn _phone_, Red," Max growled. The phone was still ringing. Finally Max heard something that sounded like someone had picked it up – Max started to exclaim something – and then there was more beeping. This beeping was much worse than the last one. A feminine robotic voice came on the line and said, "I'm sorry, the line you are trying to reach has been disconnected. Please check the number or dial again. This is a recording."

Max slammed the phone into the cradle, and picked it right back up a second later, trying to remember Red's cell phone number. What could Red _possibly_ be doing that was so important that he couldn't pick up the phone and talk to him? It occurred to Max that maybe the power was out at Pine Hollow. This, combined with the possibility that Red's cell phone could be dead, was entirely terrifying.

However, to Max's utter relief, Red picked up his cell phone on the second ring. "Red? Are you there? Did the power go out?"

"The power didn't go out, Max," said Red. Max realized that Red was the one sounding frantic now, too. "Max – a tree just fell and it took out your office. It cut the barn in half." Before Max could ask, Red quickly added, "I saved the horses and I got everything that looked important out of your office."

"Except for the phone," breathed Max.

"Except for the phone."

Max shook his head. "I need to be out there, Red. Is there any possible way you think that anyone could get through to you?"

"I haven't gone to see the road since I checked it out this morning. I've been a little busy doing everything else." Red started to say something else, but instead of hearing some more of Red's speech, Max heard a sharp intake of air, as if Red was in pain.

"Red, tell me the truth. _Are you okay_?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, I just – never mind. Don't worry about me, Max. I've got everything under control. Pine Hollow and I will live through this." Red paused before adding, "And so will you."

Max really, _really_ hated not being able to be out there braving the weather and saving the horses with Red. He also hated the fact that Red insisted upon lying and saying he was fine when it was clear he wasn't. "In all seriousness, Red, please just tell me what's wrong."

Red hesitated. "Before I talked to you last time, I was trying to break down the door to your office, and I think I twisted my ankle. But really, I can make it through this, Max. We've both got to keep believing that."

Max had to wonder how these conversations always turned around to Red consoling Max. Max was the one that was safe and sound, while Red was trapped in the middle of nowhere with doubtlessly frantic horses and an injured ankle; Max should have been comforting Red. "I know," said Max finally. "Don't you forget that, Red. Don't you dare give up."

When Red spoke next, Max could hear the smile in his voice. "Got it, Chief."

"I'm calling again in an hour."

"Yes sir."

Max was the first to hang up this time. His hands were shaking as he fumbled to put the phone back into its cradle. He couldn't believe this was happening – and why on _E__arth_ did Red's ankle have to give out during this direst of all situations? Max started to pace again in the kitchen, unsure of what else he could possibly do to try and help.

In the other room, Deborah was pacing, too. She was using her cell phone, talking to someone or other. Max could hear bits and pieces of the conversation. From what he could tell, Deborah was trying to procure information on the thunderstorms and their severity – and how long they were going to last.

Max sighed and wandered into the living room, where he collapsed onto the couch. The Weather Channel was still playing loudly. They were showing footage of the damage the storm had caused thus far. There were trees sticking half-out of houses, trees lying slanted across roads, trees sitting on top of cars, trees doing this, trees doing that – Max suddenly wondered if he was going to hate trees after all of this.

Apparently the wind was gaining speed. There was some more footage, this time of trees being knocked to the ground from the forceful gusts. Some shingles from the roofs of houses were being torn off, too. Max watched with an uneasy feeling settling in the pit of his stomach. He could picture only too easily the tree as it crashed onto Pine Hollow, cutting neatly through the roof, taking down most of the hayloft with it, crushing his office, several horses, and Red along the way –

_No._ Red was fine, the horses were fine, and everything that had been of great importance was out of his office. _There has to be a bright side to this,_ Max thought. He mulled over the bright-side possibilities only to realize that there weren't any. All that could come of even just this tree being the only damage was that they would have to replace the roof, rebuild half the barn, and pay to get the tree taken off the property.

Maybe, though, there was a bright side to this: Red and the horses were still alive. Max tried to tell himself this was the most important part of the catastrophe. He checked his watch, kind of hoping that an hour had mysteriously passed and it was time to call Red again.

It had been four minutes.

This was going to be a very, _very_ long thunderstorm, wasn't it?

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** You got that right, Max. Heh, heh. ;)


	5. Second Morning

Red did not sleep at all. He didn't even bother trying – he was too busy for sleep. _Sleep is for the weak,_ he told himself silently again and again, as he went about checking up on all the horses and moving tack out of the way of the rain. Now that the front half of the barn was gone, there was a yawning gap where the roof used to be, and slanted raindrops continued spiraling downward and soaking practically everything in sight.

It was cold now too, because of the tree. Whatever warm air that had been trapped in the barn had escaped, and none of it could stay now, either. When Red had first started shivering, he'd tried to get a grip on himself, thinking that it wasn't going to help. Besides, it made him feel pathetic. But now he let himself shiver all his body wanted to. He was pathetic anyway, dragging his right foot around, half-walking and half-slithering, soaking wet from trying to move everything out of the way of the rain; and besides, if shivering was a built-in instinctual mechanism, there had to be some sort of benefit.

Red was soon forced to put all the mares except for Angelfire into the indoor ring. The ring still retained some amount of warmth, likely because of all the horses that were constantly moving around in there. It was a near-impossible feat to try and feed them, but Red somehow managed it by separating them out, tying them to different sections of the ring fence. The second they had all finished he untied the mares and unhooked their lead ropes, allowing them to run around all they wanted. Red could only pray that none of them would spook so much that they would try and escape the ring.

Bella seemed to be in most danger from this. Red noticed – he saw how frantic she made the others – and he quickly took her back out of the ring, leading her into what was left of the main barn. He put her in the empty stall beside Angelfire and hoped it would calm her somewhat to be in a stall by herself.

Unfortunately, Angelfire was no help in that area. She was crazier than ever today, and Red wished that he could move her somewhere safer and warmer – but that was impossible. At least, at first he thought it was impossible. He soon realized that the tack room was the warmest place to be, other than the indoor ring, and Red set about moving all the tack out of the way.

Once he had shoved the saddles to one side and everything else to the other, Red limped down and grabbed a large empty bucket, along with a pitchfork. He limped back to the cleanest empty stall and began to put whatever clean straw he could find into the bucket. When he had completed this task, he started to drag the bucket to the tack room.

Red was stopped in his tracks when the filled bucket accidentally slammed into his injured ankle. His ankle gave way with a spasm and Red was sent tumbling to the wet floor with a splash. He lay there in the rainwater for a second, honestly considering just laying here and giving up – and then the horses started to neigh again, and Red took a deep breath before struggling back to his one working foot. He dragged the bucket the rest of the way, being very careful about his hurt ankle, and dumped the clean straw onto the tack room floor.

There wasn't enough straw the first time, so Red took the bucket back out and filled it again. It was only after he dumped it the second time that he realized what an idiot he was being. There was no way a pregnant mare could lie down on this floor – no matter how much straw he laid down, it was still going to be hard as rock to her, and the baby could crack its head open the second it came out.

Red swallowed hard and abandoned this project of turning the tack room into a stall. Instead, he searched around until he found a dry blanket, and he headed over to Angelfire's stall with that in hand. He hung it over the edge of the stall, thinking that he should probably wait until she had the baby to put it on her. He didn't want to obstruct the mare in any way.

Angelfire was still pacing. Red watched her for a minute, feeling downright miserable. "You had better not try and give birth while it's only me here," he told her, his voice hoarse from lack of use. He cleared his throat before continuing. "You know I have practically no experience with helping a pregnant horse."

The mare tossed her head in response and whickered. Red shook his head and turned away. In the next stall over, Bella whinnied, and the geldings started it up again. The two stallions began snorting. Red looked around for a minute as the noise reached a deafening crescendo – and then he heard something that sounded suspiciously close to splashing.

Red hobbled over to peek into Barq's stall. The horse was moving around a lot – and it was no wonder. The bottom of his stall was covered in a thin sheet of rainwater. "Oh, Barq, I'm so sorry," Red said, as he set about clipping the lead rope onto Barq's halter. "How long has there been water down there? I hope it hasn't been too long."

He led Barq out into the aisle and attached him to only one cross-tie. Red patted Barq's neck and went around to check on all the other stalls. Barq's stall hadn't been the only flooded one: Dime and Nickel, both ponies, had been up to their fetlocks in water.

Red was running out of room to put the horses. He tied Dime to the other cross-tie in the hall and was soon at a loss as to where he ought to put Nickel. Red stood there with the pony for a minute before remembering the tack room makeover and deciding he could use that, as long as there was nothing edible in there.

He led Nickel to the tack room and tied the obedient pony to a leg of one of the counters. "Sorry, Nickel," Red told the pony. "At least it's a bit warmer in here." Nickel nickered back and nudged Red's shoulder. Red smiled half-heartedly at the pony and limped back into the barn aisle.

Red was right next to the tack box upon which he'd carefully placed his phone when his ankle gave way again. Red managed to seat himself on the tack box instead of lying on the floor this time. He wanted to roll up the right leg of his pants to take a look and see how his ankle was doing – if it was swollen or anything – but he was too ridiculously fatigued. His arms felt as though it took a mountain of effort to move them in the slightest.

He laid his head back against the wall, his eyes fluttering shut. Red had no idea what to do now except sit here, wait, and pray. So that was what he did.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I'm so mean to him. Sorry I haven't updated sooner; I kind of lost this story because I couldn't remember where I put it. Clearly I found it. ;) Well, reviews are fun, so give me one! Ugh. Sorry that rhymed. ;P And just because I'm such an updating fail, I'm going to give ya'll the next chapter, too.

**DISCLAIMER:** In the first chapter, as is the warning.


	6. Second Afternoon

Dr. Judy Barker was worried to say in the least. Although she was stressed and anxious and tired as well, how she felt was evidently nothing compared to how Max was feeling. She lived only a few houses down from him and had come up to ask if he knew how Pine Hollow was – to ask if he'd been in contact with Red O'Malley. Everyone knew that Red lived at the barn.

Deborah had been on and off her cell phone all day. Max had been using the landline inside his house for a while, but the power had gone out recently, and he'd begun to use his own cell phone instead. Judy's power had been out since the night before. She was tired of sitting alone in her cold house – that was another reason she'd come to the Regnery household.

Judy was seated on the couch now, literally twiddling her thumbs. She watched Max as he paced back and forth in front of her. She could see his hands trembling. It made her even more anxious to see _him_ so anxious. "Look," Judy finally said, "I'm sure that Red can handle everything this storm throws at him."

"He's already had a tree thrown at him," Max ground out. "And apparently he's managed to hurt himself, too."

"Is he all right?" asked Judy, concerned.

"He keeps trying to tell me that, but I don't believe him," Max answered. He checked his watch in a frenetic manner. "It's time for me to call him again." Max had already pulled his cell phone out of his back pocket and was in the middle of dialing the number when Judy's own cell phone rang. She checked the number – it was unrecognized. She answered it just in case.

"Hello?"

"Oh, thank God," breathed Red O'Malley on the other end of the line. "Her water broke. She's lying down, she's breathing hard, everything seems to be fine at the moment but I can't be sure."

Judy nodded. "It's Red," she told Max. "Angelfire's in labor." At this, Max said quickly and quite loudly, "Put him on speaker!" Judy obeyed, and soon Red's voice was echoing in the living room. Deborah rushed in from the dining room, her phone in hand.

"Are you still there?" asked Red. He sounded absolutely petrified.

"Yes, yes, I'm here. I'm sure it will be perfectly fine. Most mares don't need any assistance."

"You sure? She's bleeding."

Judy tilted her head slightly. "How much?"

"I don't know, a little."

"Not very worrying, I'd say."

There was silence for a few long minutes. In the background, there was labored breathing, with the occasional grunt. "How long do you think she's been in labor?" Judy asked. At the same time, Red blurted, "Judy there's something wrong."

"What's wrong?" demanded Max.

"She's been in labor for at least twenty minutes and there's been no progression. D'you think – d'you think the foal's facing the wrong way?"

Judy closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them again, she cleared her throat and said, "If you can't see his feet then he's facing the wrong way. To save the mare and the foal you're going to have to go in there and turn him."

"Are you serious?"

"Incredibly."

Judy and Max stared at each other for a long moment. Finally Red said, "Yeah, I'll do it. Just tell me what to do."

"Yes, okay. Get some disinfectant and pour it into a clean bucket." Judy waited while she heard movement on the other end of the line. There was a light thump and a sharp yelp that was painful to hear. "Red?" asked Judy. "Red, are you there?"

"Yeah," said Red, with audible effort. "I'm still here." He said nothing else, and they were treated to a tense few minutes of silence – and then Red said, "I've got the disinfectant in the bucket. It's betadine. Is that okay?"

"It's good, it's good," said Judy. Max looked even more anxious than he had before, if that was possible. "Red, are you okay?"

"I don't matter!" Red barked. "We're losing two horses here! Tell me what to do!"

Judy nodded, even though Red couldn't see her. "Okay. Let's do this. Tie the mare's hind feet together so she can't kick you." Judy waited for a while before asking, "Have you got that done?"

"Yeah, keep going."

"You're going to have to reach in there and feel for the foal. First, if you've got any Latex gloves, put those on. After you do that, disinfect your hands by putting them into the bucket of betadine. You're going to need disinfected string as well."

There was another too-long period of quiet. Finally Red said, sounding shaky, "Okay. I've got the gloves on and I have the string and everything is all disinfected. What now?"

"Reach in and feel for the foal."

Judy listened hard as Red presumably obeyed her. They could hear nothing but white noise for what seemed to be a ludicrously long time. Max started pacing again; Deborah covered her mouth with her hand; and Judy considered joining Max. Then Red said, "It's his head."

"He's facing the wrong way. You'll need to tie the string around his pastern and leave the end of the string out. Pull firmly on the string while you push his head back into the mare's uterus. This should enable the mare to foal normally."

"Okay," said Red. "Okay, I can do this."

Then there was silence, and it had never been louder. Red suddenly said after a minute, "Judy, what do I -"

And the line went dead.

"Red?" Judy said into the phone. "Red, are you there? Can you hear me?" There was no response. She looked at the screen of her phone. _Call ended._ Judy took a deep breath and put her phone down as she looked up at Max and Deborah. "He's gone," she said. "The line's dead. I don't know what happened."

Max looked miserable beyond compare. "He was using his cell phone," he said bleakly. "The tree that collapsed crushed Pine Hollow's landline. His phone probably just died. It had to have been on for days without charging."

"It's a miracle it got this far," said Deborah. "I'm sure he's performing wonderfully." She sounded as though she was trying to convince herself of this as well.

Max looked like he wanted to say something. Instead, he covered his mouth with his hand and started to pace again. Judy gave in and joined him in his pacing. Finally Max burst, "I can't stand it anymore, I am driving out there and getting through to that barn if it's the last thing I do!"

Deborah protested. Judy wasn't sure whether she ought to or not. Max, who Judy just noticed had been sporting only one shoe, hurried into the front hall and pulled on his other shoe. He hopped to his feet and swung open the door and looked out –

Into the rainless air.

"It stopped!" Max cried. "It stopped raining!" With a joyful thought of praise for the Lord, Max jogged out to his truck. Both Deborah and Judy followed. "Good," said Max. "Judy, we're definitely going to need you out there."

And with no thoughts to the trees blocking all the roads, they started away from the Regnery house.

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><p><strong>AN:** Damn, I'm mean! :P Haha, well, review and you'll find out what happens sooner! ;) Oh, and I had to look up all that stuff about the pregnancy; I'm guessing it's right, but ya never know with what you find on the Internet. *shrug*

**DISCLAIMER:** See the first chapter for it and the warning.


	7. Second Evening

Pine Hollow was a mess.

Half of the barn was missing. Trees were out all over the fields. Wind was still lifting and throwing things. The electricity was out. The power lines were down. Floodwater was gathering. The horses were frantic – well, most of the horses. One horse wasn't moving at all and hadn't been moving for some time.

When Red first managed to help Angelfire's colt, getting the baby out and alive, he had laughed with joy. He hadn't believed in himself one bit, but he'd been praying every second, hoping that he was right. That laughter was hysterical. He was running on adrenaline, pure and simple, and he didn't even know where the sounds had come from. And then he'd looked past the colt and seen Angelfire just laying there, unmoving, too still, and his laughing had turned into sobbing.

For a while he remained somewhere at that crossroads between laughing and crying. But his head had cleared when he looked at the colt again. He knew of imprinting and he knew he needed to get this baby to another broodmare before the poor thing died on its own. Red knew the broodmare had to be one that had recently given birth; otherwise the mare wouldn't have any milk to give the colt.

_Bella._ The frantic mare had lost her own foal only a couple of days ago. Red was incredibly glad that he'd thought to bring Bella into a stall. He had to work, but he managed to pick up the colt and brought him into Bella's stall. The moment he set the colt down, Bella went into mother mode and started to lick the colt.

Red backed away, wiping off his face. He hated it, but he couldn't even move Angelfire's body. He was going to have to leave her there until somebody managed to get to Pine Hollow. The only way to describe it was awful – horrifyingly awful.

He tried to distract himself from the poor dead mare that had given her all for her baby by going about and feeding the rest of the horses – only after he ripped off the betadine-covered Latex gloves, dumped out the bucket, and threw away the string. The other horses that had been so spooky before were much calmer now. Red couldn't figure out why until he realized that something other than Angelfire's pacing and whinnying was missing – the sound of rain pounding on the roof.

After feeding the horses, Red hobbled over to the gap the fallen tree had left behind. He leaned against the trunk and looked directly upward, expecting to feel raindrops on his face. Instead, all he felt was the frosty wind. Red stared up in a state of exhilaration for a minute. He could even see a rainbow.

_Thank you, dear heavenly Lord above,_ thought Red, still leaning against the tree. _O God, thank you._ Red leaned down to where he was sitting against the tree on the ground. He felt as though everything that could have gone wrong was over and done with now. It would have been much worse if he hadn't been able to get a hold of Dr. Judy – or if his phone had died even a moment earlier…

He was so incredibly exhausted. All that adrenaline from earlier was fading now. In fact, all Red wanted to do was lie down right here on the cold wet floor and go to sleep. Sleep was calling for him – it was asking him very nicely to yield to it…

_No._ He couldn't sleep. He had to take care of the horses.

Red struggled to his feet and looked around blearily. Oh, great: and he was lightheaded now too. As he thought about it, his stomach growled. Red looked down, surprised. He hadn't even considered eating until this very moment – and now that he was aware of how long ago his last meal had been, his insides ached with hunger. Of course there was nothing for him to eat. He could have gone over to the lounge if there hadn't been a huge tree blocking his path.

The eighteen-year-old limped toward Bella's stall. It occurred to him that the colt was going to need a name. Red thought about it as he approached the stall. It didn't take very long to come up with the colt's nickname. _Miracle._ That was what the colt was – a miracle.

Red tried to smile when he saw Bella taking careful care of Miracle, but it was hard. There was so much else to worry about.

Speaking of worrying, Red was starting to worry about his head. It was aching magnificently, almost hurting so much that it matched his twisted ankle. He suddenly felt very anxious about his head, and how good sleep was sounding; no matter what, he knew that he wasn't supposed to go to sleep. He knew that going to sleep with a headache meant you weren't going to wake back up.

Red started to walk up and down the main aisle of the barn, trying to force himself to stay awake. His body was fighting him the whole way. He was utterly exhausted. He really wished he had slept for more than a half-hour that first night of the storm. Now he couldn't sleep until the firefighters or whoever was fighting to make it through the roads arrived. He couldn't sleep until he knew from a professional that he was in the clear.

So he walked. He didn't limp or hobble: he walked with his weight full on both of his legs. It sent spasms of pain up through his leg, but he knew it was what he had to do in order to stay awake. If he sat down or blinked too long, he thought he would drop off into a coma. And where would that leave the horses?

Red continued to walk, and walk, and walk. As he walked, his head, his ankle, and his hungry stomach hurt. It occurred to his weary cobwebby mind that his mouth was dry and he really ought to find himself some water, but he was too busy focusing on staying awake.

And he refused to stop walking.

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><p><strong>AN:** Sorry about the wait! :P I lost the document again amongst USB ports and Canada. Yes, seriously. Anyway, reviews are fun, so give me one! :D Lol, sorry about the rhyme there... ;)


	8. Third Morning

The roads were quite impossible to navigate. Max wanted to try and dial Red's number, but he'd already tried various times. It was true: Red's phone had to be dead. Max knew there was no way the stable hand would neglect to answer his phone in such a situation. The only reason Max kept calling was because he hoped for some reason that maybe, just maybe, Red's phone would jump back to life.

"Should we call the police?" asked Deborah from the passenger's seat. Judy was lying spread out on the backseat, snoring unashamedly. "Personally I think we should. That way Pine Hollow will be high up on their priorities list."

"That's actually a really good idea," said Max. He craned his neck to try and see around the long line of cars ahead of them. "You want to call or should I?"

"I will," said Deborah, taking out her cell phone. Max listened as Deborah dialed the three numbers, and a 911 operator came on the line. "Hello, this is Deborah Regnery. I'm calling because I'm aware of a situation that needs immediate action…Pine Hollow Stables…yes, that's the correct address…yes, someone is trapped there, a tree is down on the stable…thank you _so_ much."

Deborah snapped her phone shut and dropped it into the nearest cup-holder. "They're on their way there," she informed Max. "They'll probably be up there getting rid of the trees in no time."

"Thank God," said Max, rubbing his face with one of his hands. "That kid had better be okay."

"Max, listen. I'm sure he's _fine_."

"No, he's not. Didn't you hear him, while Judy was on the phone with him? When he…" Max searched for the right word. "…I don't know, when he made that sound like he was in pain? He's only eighteen, Deborah. He turned eighteen two weeks ago. He's just a kid."

Deborah, to Max's surprise, laughed. She actually laughed. Max was about to glare at her when she explained. "Max, you need to listen to yourself. Red O'Malley is a legitimate _adult_. I don't care if he turned eighteen yesterday. He's been living at a barn for at least a year and he's been taking perfect care of himself. In fact, do we even know where his parents were then? And last night, when he helped a horse have a _baby_."

She paused, letting all that sink in. Max nodded slowly after a minute of mulling it over. Deborah finished: "I think he grew up a long time ago."

"Oh, I don't know," Max burst. In the backseat, Judy snorted at the loud sound, but remained asleep. "I really hate to hear him in so much pain." He hesitated before adding softly, "I don't know, he's like…family or something."

Deborah looked like she wanted to hug Max, but she restrained herself. Instead, she smiled reassuringly at him. "Now we know that there are people on their way to reach Pine Hollow. They'll find Red and he'll be safe and sound."

"I really hope so," said Max. "I really, _really_ hope so."

* * *

><p>The kid that had grown up a long time ago was at that moment in the middle of feeding the horses. His head was pounding with such fervor that Red wouldn't have been surprised if there was a little man beating on a drum in there. His stomach had bypassed hungry and was at the point of hunger-induced nausea. His ankle was likely to give way any second, as it had done several times in the past hours; and even worse, he'd begun to cough as well. He'd probably caught a cold from being around all this dampness without ever taking the time to dry off.<p>

Red soon finished feeding the horses. The ones in the wash stall were less frenzied than they had been. Nickel in the tack room was clearly bored, but he hadn't settled for chewing on any of the tack yet. The stallions had yet to start fighting each other over territory-crossings, and the mares in the indoor ring were standing around quite calmly sharing a large bale of hay that Red had tossed in there with them. Everything was going swimmingly, which was why Red thought something was about to take a turn for the worse.

He paused by Bella's stall and glanced in. Miracle was on his feet now and shifting around, bored by the lack of interesting things in his stall and outside his stall. Red started to say something to the colt, but he cut himself off with a violent coughing fit. _Watch me have gotten tuberculosis,_ Red thought miserably, as the last of his coughs faded away.

Red moved away from the stall. It occurred to him that he could open the garage-sized door that led outside from the indoor ring – and then he realized that he could even head up to check on the trees that were blocking the road. Maybe people were already working on getting rid of the trees. Red had a sudden mental image of Max slicing through the fallen trees with a chainsaw. He didn't doubt that the man would be quite capable at this point. He was probably beside himself with worry.

The stable hand headed into the indoor ring, only after giving up on keeping himself awake and grabbing his handy-dandy makeshift crutch of a broom. He passed the mares, who were very calmly munching on hay, and with some work managed to open the garage-sized door.

A large gust of cold wind greeted him. _Great,_ thought Red sarcastically. _So this fantastic wind's still going strong._ Red honestly considered riding a horse up to see if the road was still blocked, but he didn't want to put one of the horses in danger. It was a short walk up to where the trees had blocked the road, wasn't it?

Red cast a wry look down at his right ankle. He'd taken the time to roll up the end of his pant leg some hours ago and had found that his ankle was swollen. That walk might have been short on a regular day, but to him, it would feel like a thousand miles. Surely there were people working on moving the trees.

He decided to believe this and retreated back into the barn, limping the whole way.

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><p><strong>AN:** Hey! I'm uploading this guy too because I took so long in updating. :P Review?


	9. Third Evening

Nobody had come yet, and the rain had stopped a whole day before.

This was a very worrying fact. Of course, any fact at this point was worrying. Red could barely stand lingering around and just waiting for people to arrive. He had nothing to do but check on the horses, and after every check-through, there was nothing to do but sit around and wait. Except Red wouldn't allow himself to sit down, because he was quite sure that if he did, he would fall asleep half a minute later.

Red lingered outside Bella's stall a lot. He wondered what color Miracle would turn out to be. Palomino, like his mother, or chestnut, like his father? Red rather hoped that the colt would turn out to be roan, as he'd always considered roans to be quite pretty, but he thought roans usually started out dark – and Miracle was as light as could be. That meant the colt would likely end up dark.

Other than watching Bella and Miracle interact, Red paced up and down what was left of the main aisle, shivering as he did. He could barely recall the time before he'd been shivering. Had there even been such a time? Or had he always shuddered like this, so hard that even breathing properly was starting to become a difficult task? Of course, all his coughing was of no help.

Red's coughing sounded deep and guttural. He'd thought it was a cold at first, but he was starting to think maybe it was something worse. He had considered tuberculosis before – and he considered it again, until he remembered that tuberculosis involved coughing up blood, not just dry-coughing. Red thought there was probably not enough water in him to cough anything up, much less blood.

He really needed water. Somewhere in the back of his dulled mind, he realized that he was so lightheaded because he was dehydrated. Unfortunately, there was no water around for him to drink, unless he wanted to get poisoned by the stagnant rainwater from the day before. Red thought of the lounge, but he was too tired to try and even walk that short distance. It would've even been short for him with his makeshift crutch.

Red soon set about feeding the horses their dinner. He was extremely grateful that the tree had managed to knock out only the stuff Red really didn't need – like one half of the hayloft, Max's office, Mrs. Reg's office, and the main entrance. If the tree had crushed the feed room, too, Red would have had to give the horses hay and hope they could survive on that.

He was almost done with the feeding when one of the geldings in the wash stall started to whinny. Red put down the bucket he was carrying and dizzily started for the horse. "What?" he asked hoarsely, not even bothering to try and clear his throat. "What's up with you, huh?"

The gelding half-reared up, as high as he could go while still attached to the cross-tie. Red ducked past the other geldings and reached for Topside's halter, aiming to maybe pet his head and try to get him to calm down a bit. But before Red's hands could land on the halter, the gelding right beside Topside started to shift around uneasily, too – and the horse tossed his head.

Hollis's head slammed right into Red's. Red stumbled backward, grabbing his head, tripping over himself and landing on the hard floor. Red squeezed his eyes shut briefly, holding his head as everything seemed to reverberate. _Oh, shit,_ thought Red. _I bet he just gave me a concussion._

His ears were ringing. Or was that a phone somewhere, ringing and ringing and ringing? Why wouldn't it stop? What idiot was trying to call when they knew that the landline was done for and so was his cell phone? Wait – then nobody could _really_ be calling – it must have just been Red's brain, telling him funny things…

Red tried to wade through the delirious state he was quickly sinking into. He really couldn't fall asleep now, unless he had a serious death wish for himself. He was almost certain that he had a concussion.

But it was so, _so_ hard to stay awake…

Red struggled upward, trying to get back onto his feet. He was sure if he felt the pain from his ankle, he would be forced into reality, out of this bleary dreamlike world. But when he put all of his weight on his ankle, his ankle just gave way, letting him tumble to the floor. His own body was working against him now.

"Stay awake," Red whispered to himself, too tired to get up from where he was lying on the floor. "Stay awake and everything will be fine. Just stay awake, Red, just stay awake, and everything will be fine. Stay awake and everything will be fine. Yeah, there are people coming to save you. They're on their way right now. Mmhmm, they're on their way…stay awake, Red, stay awake…stay…awake…"

It was growing harder and harder, even though Red was speaking so loudly it sounded as though he was yelling through a megaphone. "Stay awake," he said again, his voice lowering to a murmur. "Stay…awake…please…God…"

His eyelids felt like lead. It was utterly impossible for him to stay awake. Why was he even trying, anyway? The horses were safe and Angelfire had already had her baby, so it was okay to go to sleep for a little bit. That was all he would do, he promised himself. He would just lie here and go to sleep for a couple of minutes. Yes, that would be perfect. He would just take a little nap.

Red felt one last rush of panic before the dark finality of sleep overwhelmed him.

* * *

><p>It seemed to have taken forever for them to clear the trees, and now that they had, they couldn't move fast enough. Max was stuck driving behind a dreadfully slow police car. "Come on," he murmured under his breath, revving the truck's old engine. "Come on, we can move faster than this…"<p>

He was exhilarated, exhausted, and anxious all at the same time. He was excited to see Red and talk to him and make sure he was okay; he was excited to see the horses and make sure they were all okay; he was exhausted because he didn't even remember the last time he'd gotten eight hours of sleep; and he was anxious because he had no idea what they were going to find at Pine Hollow.

When Max caught sight of the main barn, he about had a heart attack. The tree looked awful, and there was no way that anyone could get past that without removing it entirely. Doubtlessly once they did, some more of the roof would go out as well. But that was, at the moment, of no consequence.

Max parked right outside the large entrance to the indoor ring. It was open, which probably meant that Red had taken the time to open it once it had stopped raining. That was a good sign – it meant Red was at least all right enough to be able to open the massive door. Max, Deborah and Judy right behind him and police right ahead of him, hurried inside.

What appeared to be most of the mares were standing around in the indoor arena looking bored. Max took a deep breath of relief, glad that they were doing all right. He paused to glance over them quickly, trying to determine which ones weren't there, before rushing onward, down the little hall that led into the main barn.

Topside and Hollis were in the wash stall. Barq and Dime were standing in cross-ties in the hall, and all of the other stalls were filled – except for one. Max would have rushed over and looked into Angelfire's stall if he hadn't been distracted by one of the policemen suddenly saying into his phone, "Yeah, we need an ambulance. We're out at the stable."

Max, alarmed, shoved through the veritable wall of policeman in front of him and followed their gazes. Red was lying on the floor at their feet. He looked absolutely awful. He had a massive bruise on the side of his head, his clothes were soaked through, his ankle was swollen, and he was so pale that Max was under the impression that the eighteen-year-old was almost transparent.

"Red!" Max yelped, when what he was looking at finally sank in. Max started for the kid – but was stopped in his tracks, being held back by one of the policemen. "What are you _doing_?" Max spat, struggling with all his might. "Let me _go_!"

"I'm sorry, sir, we don't know if he has any contagious diseases," the policeman explained. Max realized dully that this was true – and he looked down at Red, who looked even more frighteningly lifeless with every passing second.

And Max prayed, seriously prayed, for the first time in years.

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><p><strong>AN:** Well, I'm just uploading the rest of this story, so I'll stop forgetting it. :P Seriously though, if you're reading this, it would be great if you could review. Thanks! :) Oh, and I skipped the third afternoon because I couldn't force out a thousand words of Red angsting.


	10. Two Weeks After

The hospital room was blindingly white.

Max had spent a lot of time in this room. So had Lisa Atwood, Carole Hanson, Stevie Lake – and for that matter, Kristi Cavanaugh. But today Max was the lone visitor, sitting in a chair in the corner, watching Red's chest slowly rise and fall. Red looked so much younger when he slept.

Everything at Pine Hollow was going swimmingly. They'd held a little memorial for poor Angelfire. They'd gotten rid of the huge tree in the front of the barn. They were hard at work on reconstruction of the front half of the barn, and all the fences that had been knocked over in pastures had been mended. Max even had a few lessons going. Not today – Sunday – but the rest of the week, there was usually at least one lesson a day. Yes, everything was headed right back for normal.

The only thing that was weird about Pine Hollow was that Red wasn't there to help with the reconstruction. He wasn't there to check up on Bella and the colt – who those at Pine Hollow had decided to name Gale. He wasn't there to clean the stalls. He wasn't there to make smart comments as Veronica complained to Max. He wasn't there to feed the horses, or exercise them, or take care of them in general – it was now, in Red's absence, that Max realized just how much Pine Hollow really needed the stable hand.

Max shifted in the uncomfortably plastic chair. Something else had been bothering him. In all the times he'd been here, he had yet to see a family member of Red's. In fact, he had yet to see anyone from outside of Pine Hollow here. Max had even asked one of the nurses if any of the O'Malley family had stopped by, and to both his surprise and irritation, the nurse had said, _no, nobody by that name, sir._ Either Red had no family or his family really hated him.

He sighed. Over the past two weeks he had also realized that there was a lot he didn't know about his trusted stable hand. He didn't know if he was right-handed or left-handed, or if he'd suffered from broken bones in the past, or if he'd even grown up in Virginia. Max was finding that he knew next to nothing, and that was the most irritating thought of all.

Max was considering this, absently staring at the IV trailing from the back of Red's hand up to the bag of fluid beside the bed, when Red shifted. He murmured something. Max immediately rushed over and pressed the 'call' button, afterwards approaching the bed, straining to hear what Red was trying to say. "What are you saying, buddy?" Max asked quietly, leaning over to try and listen better.

The nurse bustled in. Max quickly explained that Red was waking up. The nurse looked expectantly at Red, and as she and Max both waited for Red to try and say something else, the expectancy slowly faded from the nurse's face. "You sure?" she asked skeptically – and then Red murmured something again. The nurse's face brightened considerably and she walked over to the other side of the bed. "Can you hear me?" she queried, carefully placing her hand on Red's shoulder. "Come on and open your eyes if you can hear me."

Max and the nurse stared at Red's face for a second. After what seemed to be a million years, Red slowly blinked open his remarkably blue eyes. He muttered something again, blinking ever so slowly, as if he was about to go back to sleep. Then, in a strange burst of energy, he looked directly at Max. "How…miracle?"

"What?" asked Max. "Can you repeat that a little louder for me, Red?"

"How…miracle?" Red asked again, more insistently. "How…colt?"

"_Oh_," said Max as it dawned on him. "The colt – he's doing great, he's great, Bella's been taking great care of him. You're a hero, Red."

Red kind of sleepily half-smiled. "Colt…miracle."

"Yeah, I know he is," said Max, nodding. During the entire exchange, the nurse rushed out of the room, presumably to get the doctor. Red shook his head slightly, groggily. "What is it?" asked Max, confused.

"Colt's _name_…Miracle…" After forcing this out, Red blinked sleepily again, shifting slightly to get more comfortable. The doctor and the nurse hurried back in. Max took a step back, unable to stop smiling at the sight of Red moving again. "Don't…leave…" Red mumbled.

"He'll be back soon," the doctor told Red. "We just need to run some tests first, okay?"

Red nodded, closing his eyes again. The doctor looked up, raising his eyebrows. Max understood and waved a little before leaving the room. Once he was out in the hallway, he realized that there was going to be a bit of a fight over what the colt's name really was – and they all still had to decide on the colt's full name as well.

Max stopped on his way out of the hospital as it came to him. He had the perfect full name for the colt.

_Answered Prayers._

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><p><strong>AN:** Thanks so much for reading this story, if you were! :) Hope ya'll enjoyed; I know I loved writing it!


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